UMD and Purdue will be reaches for CS, not targets.
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Iād just be careful with this sort of reasoning. Money you spend on college is money you donāt have to, say, get started on buying a home, or maybe start college funds for your own kids some day, and so on. And when you actually owe someoneāeven if only voluntarily and not through a binding contractāthis can mean you feel like you canāt make certain choices about next steps for education or career.
I think a lot of this is just too much of an abstraction for HS kids to really internalize. But if you look, say, ahead to forums in which young adults with a lot of college debt tell their stories, a lot of them are very unhappy with that state of affairs, and really wish they had saved on college costs.
Of course if your aunt is wealthy enough to comfortably give you this money, you are comfortable taking it, and you will not feel limited in your choices going forwardāgreat! Thatās a reasonable thing for a wealthy aunt to want to do.
Just be careful, though, that you donāt put yourself in a situation where choosing a more expensive college than is really necessary actually limits your future options. To me that is the opposite of the point of college, meaning it should expand, not limit, your options.
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To put this into perspective, @lambda2, if your aunt lends you $360,000 (which is approximately how much the most expensive schools on your list will cost), and you want to pay her back over 20 years, even with no interest itāll cost you $1,500 a month, every month for 20 years. Are you comfortable with that?
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Ok, that does sound like a lot of money. Thanks for the feedback. Still going to talk to my aunt first.
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@Mwfan1921 How accurate is the npc for public uniās like Michigan?? When I ran my numbers on Michigan it came out at a little over 20k
I canāt speak to the accuracy of Michiganās NPC. That seems like quite a bit of need based aid, but I guess possible. You might contact financial aid and ask about the accuracy of the NPC for OOS students.
Michigan does give need based aid to some OOS students, but the website says itās ālimitedā.
https://finaid.umich.edu/apply-aid/new-undergraduates/non-residents
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Just to clarifyā are the numbers you posted above your expected family contribution for these colleges?
Does the college also expect a student contribution of a work-study job and federal student loans in addition to that amount?
Just adding to the suggestion, that whatever money is āpromisedā for college from any extended family members be put in some guaranteed available resource, and get clarification on how much you are expected to repay.
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The numbers posted are the ones i got from running the npc financial aid calculator.
It stated 0 family contribution and full student contribution, split with varying amounts between loans and student work.
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I will have a sit-down talk with them about this this weekend. Thanks for replying!
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You indicated that you only used an old 1040 form to do this. To get an accurate result, you need to use all of your familyās assets. Some schools will also consider the value of your home. Please do the NPCs with your parents.
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Yes, was just stating to give a rough estimate. Did say that I will confirm with my parents over the weekend.
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Sounds like his/her aunt has the money and only āacceptedā the idea of the child paying back at their request, to make the child feel better. It could become a gift at graduation.
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Would your aunt also support an application to Michigan State?
At Penn State specifically, which of these majors would be most interesting to you?
However you wouldnāt get any scholarships or need-based aid so itād be really expensive.
SUNY Buffalo would be a safety. You could even apply to Honors there.
Sounds like you would qualify for a lot of financial aid at colleges that āmeet needā - which wouldnāt be OOS public universities in general. UMichigan does offer some financial aid for FGLI students; UNC and UVA also do. All other OOS public universities would not - although you may be able to get a merit scholarship.
What about Case Western?
Calc BC in 10th - wow.
Maybe UMASS in the reaches - maybe. Not UMD or Purdue and unlikely UGA.
But the rest have a shot. Youāll have some acceptances - but not all.
Thanks for responding!
I am considering msu, but Iām not sure about attending
In regards to the major, I am drawn to the ML and Data Science degrees. The latter would probably be better in the long term, but I donāt know for sure. Penn state is one of my options I am considering.
I will add SUNY Buffalo to the list! I thought I already did!
Iām also not sure whether I really have a shot at UNC or UVA - very competitive + oos.
For some reason, I was allowed to finish all all of middle school math in 6th grade and start algebra 1 in 7th lol.
I assume you mean targets. If you do, I can see that. Just repeating from above if you didnāt read everything but this is what my friend thinks would be reaches/targets/safetys ā hes optomistic lol.
Thanks! Just need one!
Yes you do.
What Iām saying - just to be clear -
I see no reaches but if you got into one, itād be UMASS - personally, I would cut down the list - to maybe Cornell and Michigan because you love them. I suppose NU you can get a branch.
For targets, I donāt see UMD or Purdue or UGA - Case maybe since you seem to be full pay. RPI yes and Rochester is maybe. Penn State is yes.
And all the safeties.
So if you get into Cornell, your aunt will help you pay $400K over 4 years - or you qualify for need aid?
Sorry if I hadnāt clarified - I WOULD like to get as much aid as I can get. Everyone responding to the thread was just concerned about how I would handle the cost of it.
Now that I look at it, my reaches do need a redoing. Iām going to ask my teacher about my gpa again because we have steep grade deflation (private school). Because I know kids who had similar gpaās to me and have gotten into some of my reaches.
Are they a reach you think? or just no chance?
I do plan to apply to atleast 15 colleges however - since I get the application fee waived.
If you apply, thereās always a chance and Iām not an adcom.
I think the gpa, as you reported, is too low.
At a private talk to them. Theyāll have a sense of where kids like you go and help understand financing. 15 apps is fine but you want them to count - not to apply to places you canāt afford.
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